Govt Reduces Public Debt Repayment Target By 21% For FY25

The government has cut its public debt repayment target by 21 percent for fiscal year 2024-25. This is 21 percent lower than public debt repayments of Rs. 24.08 trillion in the current fiscal year. The government aims to raise Rs. 12.51 trillion through T-bills during FY25. No Sukuk bonds will be launched next fiscal year, while prize bond repayments are projected at Rs. 8.99 billion. The repayment target for permanent domestic debt is Rs. 6.53 trillion next fiscal year. This includes Rs. 5.18 trillion in Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) and Rs. 203.63 billion for non-banking PIBs. Also, Ijara Sukuk (Islamic bonds) repayments are projected to rise to Rs. 752.53 billion from Rs. 274.69 billion in FY24. No repayments are due for the 3-year Pakistan Banao Certificates as they matured in the outgoing fiscal year, but Rs. 2.88 billion will be repaid for the 5-year certificates. Repayments for foreign exchange bearer certificates, foreign currency bearer certificates, US dollar bearer certificates, and Special US dollar bonds have slightly increased. The government has reduced the repayment target to Rs. 1.6 trillion for National Saving Schemes (NSS) and provident fund disbursements to Rs. 77.88 billion for FY25. There have been big cuts in Defence Savings Certificates, Special Saving Certificates (registered), Special Saving Accounts, Regular Income Certificates, Pensionary Benefits, and Behbood Savings Certificates. The Shauhda Welfare Account and Sarwa Islamic Saving Accounts will see slight increases. The federal government has planned to spend Rs. 135.71 billion through various deposits and funds for state departments and employees, including Rs. 2.15 billion for the federal employees’ benevolent fund and group insurance fund, and Rs. 9.89 billion for defence ministry employee benefits. The target for Pak PWD spending is Rs. 55.04 billion, with Rs. 25 billion allocated for the Workers Welfare Fund. The Universal Service Fund (USF) spending is set at Rs. 10.96 billion courtesy of telecom companies.